1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to holders for flexible flat materials. In particular, the present invention is directed to such holders useful for containing disposable floor mats for use, for example, in entryways to plants and factories, retail stores, and for industrial applications such as clean rooms, hospitals, laboratories, and the like. Holders for such mats ideally will maintain them in position and avoid folding or wrinkling which could produce a danger of tripping resulting in a fall. On the other hand, since maintenance of such mats normally will be performed as a routine janitorial function, such holders must be easily opened to replace the mats in a quick and efficient manner. While the present invention will be described with reference to such a holder for floor mats, it will be recognized by those skilled in this art that other uses may be made for the holder of the invention such as for wall hangings, embroidery and the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional floor mats comprise a rubber or rigid plastic base, normally rectangular, with slightly raised edges to form a recess adapted to contain the mat. In use the mat is simply positioned in the recess, and the combination placed in the location desired. The edges of the holder are normally beveled so as to reduce the likelihood of tripping. Reference may be had, for example, to U.S. Pat. No. 3,083,393 to Nappi which illustrates such a structure further including screw means adapted to maintain a pad of paper-like doormats in position. Another example of such a holder is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,143,194 to Wihksne dated Mar. 6, 1979. A difficulty with such conventional holders is that, during use, a mat, particularly when wet, may tend to wrinkle, bunch, or fold decreasing its effectiveness and presenting a hazard. To overcome this, various clamp means have been devised to close over the mat and maintain it taut and in position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,435,480 to Mann, Jr. dated Apr. 1, 1969 illustrates such a combination. While effective for the desired purpose, it has been found that, in order to provide sufficient clamping force and in the structure designed to present smooth edges reducing the danger of tripping, opening the holder when desired to replace the mat has presented a problem. This is normally a hand operation performed as a routine janitorial chore. The smooth transition between the holder and the mat leaves little room to grasp the edge of the holder clamped against the mat, particularly when sufficient pressure has been applied to aggressively hold the mat in position. The present invention is directed to improved holders for mats and the like greatly facilitating the ability to quickly and efficiently open the holder and replace the mat.